SINGAPORE — The planning process for developments in Singapore’s largest commercial and regional district outside the city will be akin to that for the Marina Bay area, said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong, who leads the steering committee for Jurong Lake District that was announced yesterday.

While the first phase of these plans — the Jurong Lake Gardens — is expected to be completed in 2017, other developments will take longer, the way the Marina Bay district took well over a decade to develop. “This is not a routine planning process,” said Mr Wong, who was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Project Blue WaVe, a community event at Jurong Lake yesterday morning. “This will not be a short-term thing … If you look at what we did for Marina Bay, (it) went on for quite a number of years.”

Mr Wong, who is also Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC, added: “Of course the setting here in Jurong Lake District is different, but I think in the same way, what we are planning to do for Jurong Lake District is very much about having conviction and faith in Singapore’s future and thinking about how we can make it even better.”

Planning for the extension of the financial district into Marina Bay began in the late 1990s and culminated with the official opening of Marina Bay Financial Centre last year, capping a series of developments in the area that include Gardens by the Bay.

Announcing the formation of the 14-member steering committee, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also Member of Parliament for Jurong GRC, said the committee would drive and coordinate the developments of the Jurong Lake District. “These are ambitious plans involving many agencies and requiring close partnership with the private sector and community,” he said.

Members of the committee include Mrs Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State (Finance and Transport), Mr Desmond Lee, Minister of State (National Development), Mr Edmund Cheng, deputy chairman and deputy managing director of Wing Tai Holdings, Dr Shawn Lum, president of Nature Society (Singapore) and Dr Tan Wee Kiat, chief executive officer of Gardens by the Bay.

First announced at this year’s National Day Rally, plans for Jurong Lake District include a new Jurong Lake Gardens created by combining the existing Jurong Lake Park, Japanese and Chinese Gardens. The Gardens will house the new Science Centre and a committee will be formed to oversee this.

Other longer-term plans for the area include better connectivity with a new integrated transport hub at Jurong East MRT Station, upgraded North-South and East-West lines and two new MRT lines. There will also be further road-widening projects to relieve congestion in the Jurong Gateway area.

The future Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail terminus could be also sited in Jurong.

The challenge, noted Mr Tharman yesterday, is to ensure that the “natural feel and sense of heritage” of the area is retained while injecting life and enabling many more Singaporeans to enjoy the place.

He also announced a new Water-Venture Committee (Jurong Lake) under Project Blue WaVe yesterday, which will not only engage more residents in water and adventure sports, but also facilitate ground-up eco-themed activities and educational programmes.

The committee will also complement development plans in the area by leveraging the grassroots network to better understand and support residents’ needs.